Danglars
The ship's purser who writes the denunciation, and the banker whose fortune the count takes apart with a telegraph and a bill of fare.
He wants money, and he wants the people around him to owe him for it.
The book
The Count of Monte Cristo
Alexandre Dumas
At a glance
- Purser of the Pharaon, Marseille
- Baron Danglars, banker, No. 7 Rue de la Chaussée d'Antin
- Wife Hermine; daughter Eugénie
Who they are in the book
Spoiler-freeDanglars is the purser of the Pharaon, twenty-five or twenty-six years old, disliked by the crew, and expecting the captaincy that the owner gives to Dantès instead. He is the brains of the conspiracy. He writes the denunciation, arranges for it to look like a joke, and lets Fernand do the posting.
In Paris he is Baron Danglars, a banker with a house on the Rue de la Chaussée d'Antin, a wife who speculates with a government minister's information, and a daughter, Eugénie, he means to marry into a title. The count opens an unlimited credit at his bank and then begins to spend it.
How Danglars Is Portrayed
- The purserIn Chapter 1 he is described as a man of twenty-five or twenty-six, of unprepossessing countenance, obsequious to his superiors and insolent to his subordinates, as much disliked by the crew as Dantès is loved.
- The left handIn Chapter 4 he writes the denunciation with his left hand so the writing cannot be traced, addresses it to the king's attorney, and tells Fernand it is only a joke.
- Unlimited creditIn Chapter 46 the count presents a letter from the house of Thomson and French opening an unlimited credit at Danglars's bank, and draws six million francs in the first year as a start.
- The false telegraphIn Chapter 61 a telegraph message reports that Don Carlos has escaped to Spain. Danglars sells his Spanish stock, the message is corrected the next day, and he has lost five hundred thousand francs.
- A conjugal sceneIn Chapter 65 he tells his wife exactly how much her speculations with the minister's secretary Debray have cost the bank, and the marriage is shown as a business account in deficit.
- The signatureIn Chapter 104 he signs a receipt for five million francs belonging to the Paris hospitals, hands the count his bonds, and leaves for Rome with the money the same night.
The bandit Luigi Vampa takes him on the road outside Rome and holds him in the catacombs of Saint Sebastian. Each meal costs a hundred thousand francs, and Danglars pays until fifty thousand remain and he is eating the matting on the floor. When he says he repents, a man in a cloak steps into the light and names himself: Edmond Dantès. The count forgives him and lets him keep the fifty thousand. Danglars is left by a stream at dawn and finds his hair has turned white.
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